Life can change
by Egyptian Princess of 1290 bc
Summary: my take on what happened to Tempe and Russ all those years ago. my take on their lives up until the time their parents disappeared. CH4 UP! slight BB
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones, hell I don't even really own this story, but some ideas I do.

_Life is fragile, _

_It can change fast,_

_For the better or the worse,_

_Depends how you look at it, _

_Most of the time we never get a choice,_

_Make the best of what it's worth,_

_Because you never know when it could end._

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Kyle Keenan sat on his swing allowing the air to guide him as his father came up to him and told him he needed to talk. Getting off the swing he walked over to his dad and got the talk of his life.

"Son I need you to forget who you are, you are no longer Kyle Keenan, do you hear me? You are Russ Brennan. Ok?" his dad said holding his son by the arms.

"yes." Kyle said not sure what was going on.

"If anyone ever asks you, police or anybody you don't give them that name, you are Russ Brennan. If you tell them you will be killing your sister and your mother do you understand me?" Kyle nodded his head then looked behind his dad to see his mom holding his sister.

Joy Keenan, his little two year old sister, he loved her and knew he's do all he could to keep her safe, not matter what. Even if it meant lying for the rest of his life.

"Say it with me; you're no longer Kyle Keenan."

"I'm no longer Kyle Keenan." He whispered.

"I'm Russ Brennan."

"I'm Russ Brennan." He repeated again and for the next ten minutes he repeated his name, over and over again 'Russ Brennan.'

Later that night Russ crawled out of his bed and into his sisters where she slept peacefully. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew whatever it was he would always be there for her. He stroked her hair and watched her move around as dreams passed her mind.

She was no longer his little Joy; she was now his little Temperance. He smiled as she opened her eyes and gazed upon him.

"Hi, Russ." She mumbled. He knew she had been easier to convince then he had been and the name was a foreign word to him.

"Hi Tempie." He whispered back.

"Why you call me dat?" she asked in her little talk.

"That's your name now." He whispered.

"Why?"

"Because it just is."

"Are you oh tah, Russ?"

"I just had a bad dream and had to make sure you were ok." he lied looking at her.

"You want to seep wit me?" she asked kindly making room for him in her bed.

"sure." He said getting in and hugged her tightly as she rested on his shoulder and fell fast asleep. "I love you Tempie, and I'll always protect you."

The next morning Russ woke up and found his sister still sleeping on him, he gave her a nudge to wake her up, but no such luck. He tried moving around so he wouldn't wake her, but soon the cries of his mom could be hear.

"Russell!" his mom yelled she could be heard running into the kitchen. "Russ! Where are you?"

"Russ! Come here!" his dad could soon be heard as well.

Christine and Matthew ran around the house looking for their son, the only thing that could come to their mind was somebody had found them and kidnapped their child. They had woken up and gone into his room to find it empty.

The only thing that could come to their mind was fear; they had done so much to keep them safe only to loose them so soon.

Russ looked over to his sister as he noticed the pressure on his shoulder lighten. Tempe had woken up and ran out of bed to see her mom and dad looking around the house.

"MOMMY!" she screamed jumping in her arms for her morning hug and kiss.

"Tempe, have you seen your brother?" Matthew asked running over to her, glad she was still ok.

"I'm right here." Russ said coming out into the hallway to see both his parents in a state he had never seen them in, panic.

"Oh god, you scared the hell out of us." Christine said running over to him to embrace him, Tempe still in her arms. Matthew soon followed suit.

"Hey I got here fist, I want a hug." Tempe cried from her mother's arms, pouting because her brother got the attention she wanted.

"sorry." Her mom said hugging her close and kissed her gently then passed her to her father so he could do the same.

The rest of the morning was uneventful and calm as one could ask for.

A couple of weeks after Tempe had turned three a man stopped by the house asking for a 'Max Keenan' Russ knew his last name used to be Keenan, but before he could answer his mom and dad were behind him.

As Matthew talked with the man, Christine pulled Russ a side and spoke to him.

"Get your sister and hide, if anything happens, run away and find help." Russ nodded and ran to his sister's room where she sat playing with a few Barbie dolls.

He had been in her room for twenty minutes when their parents came in and spoke to them.

"Tempie, pack your things, please." Christine spoke and walked over to help her.

"Russ, come with me." Matthew said motioning for him to follow.

They walked out into the living room where they sat down and talked.

"You saw that man right?" Russ nodded. "If you ever see him again, I want you to get your sister and hide. Don't ever talk to him; he wants to hurt you and your sister. If you ever see him, promise me you'll protect Tempie and hide."

"I promise dad." He whispered.

"Good, pack your things." He said and Russ got up to leave.

A few days later Russ starred out the window to the family car as they drove away. They were leaving the home they knew behind and leaving to a place called Chicago. The young boy carefully placed his hand on the window and looked back at the house until it became so small he couldn't even see it anymore.

Tempe called her brothers name and smiled to him, telling him everything would be ok. He nodded, knowing everything would be as long as his sister was safe.

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So how is it so far? This isn't really a long story, just a few short chapters, please let me know what you all think and let me know if I should continue. Well I better get some sleep tomorrow is my birthday and I have Disneyland calling my name. good night everybody


	2. Chapter 2

A fifteen year old Temperance Brennan sat in her biology class learning about the human bones and where each one was located as a soft, but audible word could be heard entering the class room.

"Marco." The whispered, causing a few of the kids to look up and out to the window.

Tempe remained writing her notes down as the teacher remained oblivious to the noise and the sudden life in the few children that had been bored with the class not seconds before. The sound came again and Tempe found herself smiling and sustaining laughter.

"Polo." She whispered back taking a quick glance out the window to see her older brother Russ standing out there smiling at her.

Sitting there, Tempe wondered what he was doing there so early. He had graduated from the school not a year before, but he was still pretty popular with the school and all the people in it, especially the teenaged girls with raging hormones. And because of his popularity, Tempe was always known as his little sister.

She looked from her brother to the clock and saw school was about to end and closed her notebook as the bell rang and got up from her chair to meet her brother outside. As she stepped out of the room she found him surrounded by girls and couldn't even see him in the crowd. She turned to walk to his car, but was stopped as she heard him talk.

"Ladies, ladies, please. I only have room in heart for one young woman, and that's my sister." He said and she heard and huge disappointed groan come from the crowd. "Now, if you'll all excuse me I'd like to get her home before school starts again on Monday."

Tempe smiled and turned to see her brother heading towards her, a huge smile on his face.

"Ready to go home?" he asked.

"I've been ready since school started this morning." She said walking with him towards the parking lot.

"This coming from the girl who is an honor roll student and has the highest grade in science." He said opening the door for her and acted like a gentleman, getting a laugh from her.

"I just didn't want to come to school today, she said getting in and sat back as they drove home."

"Hey I got a job today." He said smiling at her as she studied her science homework.

"Really? Where?" she asked happily pulling away from her work.

"No place fancy, just some dinner down the street."

"Russ, that's nice."

"Glad you think so Tempie."

"I'm proud of you."

They pulled up to the driveway of their house and Tempe jumped out of the car before it even stopped.

"Tempie, be careful you could of hurt yourself." Russ yelled, but knew she didn't hear him as she rushed into the house.

"MOM! DAD!" she yelled looking around the room.

"In here Tempie." A male voice called from the kitchen.

Tempe ran from the living room to the kitchen to find both her parents. Her mom stood at the stove cooking while her dad sat at the table talking to her.

"Wow, now young lady, where's the fire?" her dad asked.

"There isn't a fire." She said confused.

"It's just a saying honey, why are you so excited?" Christine asked pulling away from the cooking to look her daughter in the eyes.

"I aced my science test on the structure of the brain." She said holding up her paper.

"That's great." Matthew said hugging her closely.

"I'm proud of you." Christine said placing a kiss on her head.

"The teacher says all I have to do is ace the test we'll have on bones after Christmas vacation, and I'll have the highest grade in the class with a 104.8 percentage."

"Well than I suggest you study over the break and ace it then." Russ said walking in and handing her the bag she left in his car. "I think you'll be needing this though."

"Thanks, Russ can't believe I left it in there." She said grabbing her bag and ran upstairs to her room.

"So, how was your day?" Christine asked Russ.

"It was great; I got a job down the street." He said looking through the fridge and pulled out a banana.

"Good job, son. I'm proud of you." Matthew said smiling at Russ, then got up and patted him on the back before leaving the kitchen.

Tempe sat upstairs fishing through her closet searching for anything that could be of some use to her. As she came across an old photo of her mom, dad, brother and herself, all starring at the camera smiling.

"What you looking for Tempie?" Russ asked entering her room.

"Nothing, just something." She mumbled moving out of her closet.

"That doesn't make sense." He stated moving into her closet to pull out a shoe box. "Here."

"Thanks. How did you know it was in there?" She smiled taking the box and opened it.

"I watched you put it away." He said smiling back.

"Did you take any?" she asked emptying out the money that the box contained.

"No, I didn't touch it." He said, then turned and left.

It was Christmas Eve and Tempe and Russ had returned from shopping. Christine and Max tried to ask her what they bought, but all she did was run upstairs and hide in their, hopping to wrap the presents before they found out.

An hour later Tempe was called down stairs by her parents; they said their good-byes and promised to be back later. Tempe and Russ waved good bye to them as they pulled out of the parking lot and left to the store to continue the shopping.

"So what do we do now?" Russ asked her as she watched them disappear down the street.

"We can make something to eat. I'm starved." She said heading back in the house.

"Can you cook?" he asked walking in behind her.

"A little." She mumbled back and headed towards the kitchen.

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Hi sorry it took so long for me to update i was in Maui and just got back like ten minutes ago. please review and let me know what you all think. thanks so much for my past reviews and please keep them coming.


	3. Chapter 3

Later that night, Temperance sat on a couch near a window looking out at the cars that passed by. She had been waiting for her parents to come home from the store. They had been gone awhile and all Russell had said was maybe they hit traffic, but she knew it was something more.

Tempe turned and look to Russ who had been changing the TV looking for something good on. She gave him a look of frustration and went back to the window. Night fall would be soon and she began to worry about where they were. After a long while of waiting Tempe had fallen asleep on the couch and opened her eyes to her brother nudging her awake.

"Wake up." Russell said "did you spend the whole night there?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" she asked back.

"Just wondering, you hungry?"

"No. did mom and dad come home yet?" she asked making her way into the kitchen to sit at the table and pour herself some orange juice.

"No, but I found the Christmas presents, so when your ready we can open them." Her brother said smiling at her.

"No, that's ok I want to wait until mom and dad get home."

"Alright fine."

It had been two weeks later when Temperance realized her parents were never coming home, the gifts they had bought them still sat under, a now rotting, Christmas tree. It was a dark and stormy night and Tempe had grown tired of looking out the same old window for the parents that were never going to come.

Russell had grown worried sometime in the previous week and called the police, they promised to open up a missing persons case and keep an eye out, but now a days nothing said was actually done, at least not at full power.

At the moment Russ stood at the door talking to a police officer who had stopped by about the case so far. As Tempe stood in the hall listening she heard their car had been found abandoned at a rest stop a thousand miles away. Hearing the news, she turned around and ran into her room, not wanting to hear anymore, she needed to get out. Over the past few weeks she had grown distant from her brother and wished for a few moments to herself.

Tempe rose from her bed and walked over to her window that was locked, blocking out all water from entering the house from the storm outside. She looked behind her, grabbed her nearby coat, opened the window and crawled out, her feet hitting the side of the house as she found a nearby branch and climbed down the tree, as she reached the bottom she jumped, her feet hitting the floor at a perfect time.

She didn't know where to go, but she only knew she had to get away, so the first thing that came to her mind was the park, it was only down the street not too far from home. So she put her hood on, though it didn't do much good due to the rain fall, and ran down the street only stopping when she reached the park and the swings.

Temperance sat there for hours, loosing track of time and trying to clear her fogged up mind, confusion clouded her head. Where were her parents? Were they alright? Why hadn't they called? Did something bad happen? Why was their car just left there alone? Were they still alive? Thoughts and questions filled her head, and Tempe lost herself completely, becoming mentally unstable for a brief moment in time.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been when it came, but it'd been a few hours later when she heard a voice calling her name.

"Temperance? Tempie where are you?" it was Russell, he had somehow figured she was at the park and came to look for her, but for the life of her Tempe couldn't call back, her mind was too confused.

"Marco!" Russell began to yell over the pouring of the rain. "Marco."

Though she couldn't fully understand what was going on, Tempe somehow managed to let one word escape her lips.

"Polo." She said barely above a whisper, but it had been drowned out by the rain.

"Marco!" Russell tried again, this time only receiving a little louder 'polo'. "Marco!" he yelled again, hearing a faint 'polo' in the distance. They continued this until Tempe had yelled it loud enough for him to find her. She was cold; soaking wet and only spoke one word, 'polo.'

Russ made his way to Tempe and stopped starring at her, he could tell she had been crying, but it was difficult to tell if she still was or if it was the rain. He started moving towards her again and picked up her head to face him.

Looking deep in her eyes, he saw she looked like the lost little girl he once knew, long before she became Temperance Brennan. Starring in her eyes he still saw his little sister, Joy Keenan. He only got a quick look as she pulled away and looked back down on the ground.

"Come on, Tempie." He said grabbing her hand and started pulling her off the swing, but failed as her hand dropped his and fell back to her side. "Temperance. Let's go." He said.

Tempe looked up to him, then back down.

"Don't make me carry you home." He warned, getting a dirty look from her.

Russ tried pulling her off the swing again, but her hand fell back to her side and rested there lazily.

"Damn it, Temperance." He said, and then turned around to face her. Wrapping his right arm behind her and around her back, then his left below her legs, Russ picked her up off the swing and carried her home like a baby.

Tempe sat in her brother's arms, knowing this would be the last time he would hold her like this, she was getting older, and though she was very light one could tell it was hard for him. She rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes, trying to remember her parents and when the last time they held her like this was.

It was a month and a half later and Tempe hadn't said a word to her brother. Ever since her parents left, she hadn't said much at all, and if she talked it was no more than five words and they were never directed to or even mentioned her family or her well being.

Russ was working at the dinner while his sister was at school. It was around 1:45 and an hour away from school getting out. Russ walked over to one of his friends and started talking to him.

"How's your sister doing?" his friend asked.

"Not good, Chris. She hasn't said a word to me since our parents disappeared and theirs no sign of her talking to me anytime in the future either." Russ said bringing in the dirty dishes.

"Man if I were you, I'd put her in a foster home. You can't take care of someone who refuses to acknowledge your presence."

"You know, everybody keeps telling me to do that, but I can't. She's my little sister and I promised my parents I'd take care of her. I promised them I'd keep her safe."

"But you can't keep her safe even if you wanted to, she won't let you." Chris said grabbing a few meals that sat ready to serve. "Look, she's your sister, you get the call. But I'd send her some place where she'll talk to somebody and they can care for her."

Russ stood there thinking it over. Fifteen minutes later, at the end of his shift, he drove home and entered his sister's room. As he stood there he knew what he had to do and the only way he got it done was thinking that this way she'd be safe and taken care of.

Tempe stood at the same spot she always met her brother at and paced until he showed up. Getting in the car she noticed the saddened look on his face and the tense shoulders he had, she wanted to ask him what was wrong, but pushed it away and looked out the window.

A half hour passed and Tempe noticed she wasn't home, that in fact she had no clue where she was. Sitting up in her seat, she saw in the distance a large building, they pulled up to it and she noticed a sign that read, 'St. John's Foster Home.' Her face fell and she looked to her brother.

"I'm sorry Tempie." He said, never once looking at her. "I didn't want to do this, but you won't talk to me and you need to be taken care of. I want you to know I love you."

They got out of the car as it came to a stop and entered the building. There Tempe met a few nuns and was shown her room, one she would share with a few other children. After the tour she walked out to the stairs and watched as her brother walked towards his car.

She saw him stop and face her, and she thought that he had come to his sense and would take her back home, but he only waved good bye and then got in his car and drove away. Tempe watched him until he disappeared and sat on the steps, curling her knees to her chest and for the first time since the night in the park, she cried.

It was later that night that Tempe lay in her bed and remembered her family, in a few short weeks; her life had gone from happy and normal to a complete nightmare. She lay there hoping that when she woke up everything would be back to normal and none of this would have happened, but she the logic of things and knew that when she woke up it would all be the same.


	4. Chapter 4

Tempe stood looking over an empty grave as a priest went over a prayer. She lifted her head and looked at the small outcome of the funeral. Angela and Hodgins stood across from her next to Hodgins and to their right Zach and Dr. Goodman were watching.

On her left was her brother, Russ and to her right was Booth, everyone came to support her in her time of need, but she didn't know why, wasn't it just a funeral? Something that happens to everyone after they've lived?

The priest finished and walked over to her and Russ, giving his condolences, then stood and watched as everybody walked forward and placed a flower on the coffin.

"You going to be ok, sweetie?" Angela asked walking up to her.

"I'll be fine Ange, thank you for coming."

"You're my best friend; I'll always be there for you." Angela embraced Tempe, and then headed to her car.

"Hey, Dr. B. how you holding out?" Hodgins asked making his way to her.

"I don't know what that means." She replied giving him a small smile.

"How are you doing?" he restated the question.

"I'll be fine Hodgins, thank you for coming." She said, hoping it would all be over soon.

"Anytime, Dr. B, see you in the lab soon." He then turned and left as well.

"I'm sorry Dr. Brennan." Zach said passing her and followed Hodgins to the car.

"So, kiddo, what do you say you come and stay with me for a little while? Get to know my girlfriend and all." Russ said pulling his sister close with one arm.

"I'd like that a lot Russ. I'll have to see about getting a few days of though." She said hugging him close and watched as Booth stood close to the coffin, probably praying.

"Dr. Brennan," Dr. Goodman said making his way to brother and sister. "Mr. Brennan."

"Please, call me Russ." Russ said taking his hand and gave it a shake.

"Dr. Brennan, Russ, my deepest condolences. May you find the rest of the puzzle pieces still out there." He said looking completely sorry.

"Thank you Dr. Goodman." Tempe said smiling at him.

"If there is anything I may do for you, please don't hesitate to ask." He said then turned to leave, but was stopped by Russ stopping him.

"Dr. Goodman," he said then waited for him to turn around. "Actually there is something I may ask, can Tempie here have a couple of days off?"

"Of course, take off as much time as you need." He said smiling.

"thanks." Both brother and sister said in unison, smiling.

Tempe watched as her brother turned and left heading towards the coffin just as Booth walked towards her. She was grateful he was coming her way, because she just needed the closeness of a friend, and not just any friend, a friend who went through everything she did and was on her side the whole time.

"Hey, Bones." He said standing next to her.

"Hi Booth."

"How are you doing?"

"I'd be doing a lot better if everyone stopped asking me that."

"We're just worried about you." He said raising his hand to bring it around her shoulder, but thought twice and lowered it to his side, luckily she didn't notice it.

"I know, but…I don't know I'm just sick of everybody telling me they're sorry."

"I know, Bones, but hopefully this will get better."

"I hope so." She mumbled and smiled as Russ made his way back to her.

"Ready to go?" he asked pulling her close again.

"Whenever you are." She said and walked with Booth and her brother, leaving her mothers coffin to be buried.

"Where you guys headed?" Booth asked watching as brother and sister got ready to enter her car, Tempe in the driver's seat and Russ in the passengers.

"I'm going with Russ for a week or so. We're going to get a little re-acquainted." Tempe said opening her door and getting in.

"Have fun you guys." Booth said walking away and down towards his car at the end of the long field of grass and headstones.

Tempe looked to her brother and asked him to wait a minute as she got back out and walked towards Booth.

Booth walked to his car, a little upset his friend was leaving, but happy knowing she'd be back. It was amazing how they had become friends and were no longer 'just partners' they now had a friendly bond.

As he walked he knew that she was leaving to be with her brother and if it weren't for him they would have never been reunited. Booth smiled and headed to his car, when he heard her calling him.

"Booth! Booth! Wait up." She called running towards him, he stopped and turned to se her only feet away.

"Yes, Bones?" he asked and was surprised when he found her wrapped around him in a tight hug.

"Thank you Booth. For everything." She whispered in his ear, and then pulled away and that's when he saw a hint of tears behind her blue eyes.

"No problem Bones. You're my friend and partner. It was the least I could do." He said stroking her cheek in a friendly way.

"I know, but thank you for staying with me the whole time, and bringing Russ and I back together. I never really knew how much I missed him."

"Hey, it's alright. I'm just glad your happy." He said and watched as she nodded.

"Thanks again, Booth." She said and leaned in to give him another quick hug.

"Bye Bones." He said and watched as she turned to leave.

"Bye Booth." She called over shoulder and got back in the car with her brother, starting the ignition and driving off.

Booth stood there watching the car until they disappeared in the distance and then he got in his car and drove off. A man in an all black car sat in the driver's seat watching the scene outside.

He knew that no matter what had happened, things were on the way of being ok. If only Tempe, Russ and the FBI agent would stay out of the past, he would be alright. Though he wanted nothing more then to touch them again and talk to them he knew he couldn't.

The man sat in the car for another five minutes before getting out and walking over to the coffin and open grave everybody had stood over ten minutes prior. He carefully placed flowers on the wooden box and spoke.

"My love, I'm sorry this happened, but you're safe now." He lowered his head and took a deep breath. "I will always love you, no matter what. Our children are older now and have lives of their own; we always wondered if leaving them was right, but we had to do it no matter what, just to keep them safe." He was quiet for a while before speaking again.

"Christine……Ruth……what happens now? I know you're safe, but what of our children? Tempie, she's so big and beautiful, just like you. And Russ, wow, I never thought I'd see either of them again. What do I do Christine? Do I ignore them and forget I ever had children? If they dig too deep, they could be harmed and we spent so much time trying to protect them from that. What do I do, love?"

All was silent in the cemetery and he was glad that nobody was around; he was allowed to have a few moments alone with his beloved.

"I love you, and don't ever forget that, sweetheart." He said, then left the area and back to his car, only to turn around and see Tempe and Russ back and looking around the area where he was only moments before.

"What are you looking for Tempie?" Russ called from the car.

"My necklace!" she called looking around the floor and soon Russ joined her.

"What?" he asked making his way to her.

"My necklace, mom gave it to me a long time ago." She said looking around the floor.

"Here it is." He said picking up a small silver chain from the floor; a silver dolphin was at the end of it.

"Thanks, Russ, I thought I lost it." She mumbled taking it and placing it in her pocket.

"How did you loose it? I thought it was on your neck."

"I think the chain broke." She said walking towards him, but stopped.

"What's wrong?" he asked following her gaze to the coffin.

"Where do you think those roses came from?" she asked looking to the new bouquet that sat there.

"I don't know Tempie." He said pushing her towards the car. "Probably comes with the package we bought for mom. With the price they charged us, for everything it better have."

"You're right, let's go." She said laughing and got back in the car and drove off.

Matthew sat in his car smiling at the sight of his children getting along, just like they had years before any of this had happened. He took one last look to the sight made a promise to return and left, praying he'd see his family alive again soon.


End file.
